


If the storm doesn’t take you out, can I?

by thesmallstorm



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Background Relationships, Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oneshot, Self-Indulgent, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, There’s no tobyliu On this site I’m fixing that, soft characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29074446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesmallstorm/pseuds/thesmallstorm
Summary: In light of a pop up storm, Toby and Liu are forced to get a motel room for the night.Awkward Comforting and feelings ensue.
Relationships: Tobias Erin "Toby" Rogers | Ticci Toby/Liu Woods | Homicidal Liu
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	If the storm doesn’t take you out, can I?

It was just around nightfall when toby and Liu first caught wind of the upcoming bad weather, and if the proxy was honest with himself, the both of them couldn’t have been in a worse position.

Toby couldn’t help but swear under his breath as his eyes studied the all too obnoxious flashing neon light sign that he and his temporary partner were slowly making their way towards. With each step they took, at least one of them was stepping in a muddy puddle, and it seemed like even Tobys bones were fucking cold. Rain drops cascaded down the mans clothes like a waterfall and the freezing temperature outside didn’t make this any more pleasant.  
He wiped as much water from his face as he could with his drenched sleeve and sighed, This was the first time in tobys twenty two years of life he wished he was at the goddamn cabin with all his other weird ass coworkers. At least it was warm and Kate always had the fire on. Yeah tim and Brian were weirdos but they spent so much time sucking face he hardly acknowledged their presence. It was at least dry and a little pleasant. Not whatever was happening tonight.

This whole charade started that afternoon, when toby got dragged out of the house on business matters straight from the faceless boss man himself, which was totally alright with him, it was his only purposes of late. The problem became apparent however when he got teamed up to go on said mission with none other than that Jeffreys shy bookworm of a brother, Liu.

Now toby and Liu interacted...not often but they were at least on a friendly basis, and Toby liked him much more than the morons he often worked with, and that didn’t exclude lius weird older brother. They often waved to eachother and made small talk when nobody else was around, and that grew into a sort of mutual appreciation for eachother over time.

Liu was very smart, and even more calculated. He hardly ever screwed up or acted without thinking. He was cunning and when he was assigned work to do, he made sure he did it right and perfectly, and Toby admired his work ethic, as did everyone else. Despite this, Liu never relished in that fact, and preferred to either be alone with a book in his hand or be with his brother who most of the time didn’t appreciate him (that fact really grinded on tobys gears again but what doesn’t)

Liu was mysterious, and Toby would just be lying if he said he didn’t get just a tiny bit curious as to what he was like, he was just...a fascinating person, one that caught Tobys eye. He enjoyed the chase and the guy himself, maybe even to a fault.

However That interest in Liu because something that really started to fester inside him. It was slow, then rushed at him all at once. As days went on he caught himself thinking more of him, like somehow subconsciously he had rooted into his brain and just decided to stay there forever. Over the course of just days he made more attempts to just be in lius vicinity, or being in spots only to admire him from afar. Of course, he enjoyed talking to him more than anything. He could hear him go on about something, Anything for hours on end. He liked hearing him talk, it was comforting.

That led him to lay awake at an ungodly hour of the night thinking about him and a conversation they might have had, reeling over some bullshit awkward thing he said or did and wondered if that made Liu uncomfortable. it all took a very quick downward spiral from here.

Toby didn’t hate Liu like he did everyone else. He liked him. A lot. That was the problem.

Of course toby would be able to handle this one time deal for the day, then go in his room, curse himself out for doing something wrong, repress all his feelings and just go on with life and never think about any of this again, however Mother Nature had other plans, much to his dismay.  
It started slowly, then all hell broke loose as the bottom fell out. First a mere chilly breeze as the wind of the forest around them picked up its pace, then a few stray rain droplets that built up into a mist that fogged up ground, then the claps of thunder that managed to make even the two jump. All the sudden, a storm popped up out of nowhere and it was bad. Really bad. So bad in fact that the two knew hiking back into the woods and to the cabin where they lived, which would take at least an hour, was a very bad idea.  
Liu suggested getting a motel room with a bit of the money they had taken off their unfortunate victim of the evening, and even if tobys entire being was screaming to say no to avoid embarrassing himself, he could only nod and follow in lius footsteps.

So now toby was here in front of the motel lobby, Sopping wet with water and remnants of the blood on his hoodie from the days work, right next to the man that had eaten away at tobys very being for the past few weeks.

“Toby?” The proxy’s whole body stiffened as Liu brought a hand to his shoulder “are you okay? You’re shivering, like a lot more than usual”

“Of course I am it’s cold as fuck out here” Toby instinctly snapped at the other as his neck cracked to the side, wait he didn’t mean to snap at him like that, shit shit shit.

“Yeah I noticed” Liu chuckled. his laugh made tobys hart skip a beat, “here I’ll do the talking, just follow my lead”

Liu ran a hand through his auburn hair to tame the frizz the weather had caused before opening the door to the lobby, with Toby trailing him, he repositioned his goggles to rest on his forehead and pulled his grey mouth guard down around his neck as to not look too suspicious. For a moment he was worried the employee would take notice of the twos stained clothes, however as soon as they made their way to the counter, the teenager working there was glued to the computer as the two checked in.

“Hi” Liu reached into his coat pocket and slid a small stack on money to the clerk “I need to book a room please”

The teen reached and took the cash from Liu, I’m exchange opening a drawer and pulling a small door key out, “yeah that’s alright man, you’re in luck there’s actually only one more room available”

Liu was given the key and after a little more back and forth the two went back outside and maneuvered their way to the correct room. Liu slid the key into the lock and, with only a little bit of difficulty, he was able to get it open.

The room was simple and just a tad bit dated. There was the standard stuff that all hotels have: a desk, a small antenna tv that rested on a table, a door tucked off to itself that presumably led to the bathroom, a window with a pretty shit view, a shag carpet and a bed.

Wait.

A bed.

Like singular.

One (1) bed.

Toby and Liu seemed to have the same epiphany at the same time, as the twos eyes began to dart around the room trying to maybe spot another option or maybe even a secret second bed maybe tucked away somewhere. Something, god anything to save themselves from the awkwardness that would surely ensue. If tobys heart could actually drop it would be on the ground. He wasn’t ready for this, he wasn’t ready to confront what the hell he was feeling for Liu, not today at least.

“Oh” Liu bit his lip “well um-“

“Yeah r-right” tobys tics started to flaire up, his anxiety running high and his hormones and heart running even faster. He couldn’t understand how he was even gonna bring himself to sleep in same bed as the guy that confused him more than anyone he currently knew. He wasn’t like this with everyone, sure as much as he hates it he’d shared a bed with multiple people before. He lived in a average sized cabin with like twelve people living in it of course he had to sometimes. This was different, Liu was different. The way Liu made him feel was different than everyone else. the last thing he wanted was to embarrass himself. he was much more comfortable admiring from afar.

Toby was in such a dazed state he didn’t notice Liu slowly began to unbutton his black overcoat and untie the striped scarf around his neck until it dropped to the carpeted floor with a wet thud, which left Him in his oversized sweater. He wasn’t completely drenched now, but his hair still dripped with water.

“I think I’m gonna go ring my clothes out in the tub, they should be dry by the time we leave tomorrow” Liu reached down to grab his things

“Wh-what about the...” toby gestured to the bed, watching as lius brows furrowed

“Well w-we can share if that’s fine with you! I mean there’s no use sleeping on the floor or in a chair when it can fit both of us fine, besides I don’t think the heat is working in here it’s just as fucking cold as outside”

It took all toby could muster to nod and keep his flushing face hidden from Liu. How was he gonna survive this and at least keep their friendship in tact? It’s not like he was good at conversation or a “smooth talker” by any means, for god sakes he’s lived in the woods for the last five years of his life. How could he hide this from him?

“Yeah that sounds alright”

Liu nodded in response and stowed away to the bathroom with a small laugh, Toby felt a tug on his heart strings at the pleasent sound.  
After he was out of sight, Toby began to take his sheathed hatchets off of his belt and slid his goggles from off of his forehead, his mouth guard also tossed to the floor. he was in the middle of toeing off his high top sneakers when a notably dryer Liu returned. His hair appeared to have been towel dried and his visible stitched skin no longer was sleek with the rain. With the bathroom vacant, toby wasted no time in making a dash for it, saving his fragile ego from the much more attractive male from potentially seeing...anything when he partly undresses.

As soon as he entered the bathroom he began the process of peeling off his soaked hoodie that was almost stuck to his skin. After wrestling with it for quite some time he rung out the remaining water from it in the sink and draped it over the shower curtain rod next to what Liu had brought in earlier. He then picked up a towel and spent a few moments drying his hair and his turtle neck undershirt to the best of his ability.

He took a once over in the foggy mirror. Did he...look at least a little presentable? We’re his teeth okay? Was his hair to frizzy? Did he smell? Possibly. Shit.

Taking a deep breath and mustering up what little confidence he could, he crept back into the room. To his surprise, Liu was already in the bed, with nothing but a tuft of his hair and his bright green eyes looking up at him.

“I thought I’d take this side, if that’s alright” toby could barely hear him say

“‘S fine, y-yeah” tobys eyes looked down at the floor, fuck why couldn’t he just play it cool for one time in his life?

“It’s okay toby, i promise I’m not gonna like... bite you or something” Liu laughed again and invitingly patted the spot next to him.

Toby highly doubted that, Liu was an attractive person around tobys age that showed him kindness and actually treated him like an equal, not like a toy or punching bag, and in the best way possible he terrified him.

“P-please I know that, besides I could totally take you on anyway” toby played off his anxiety by rolling his eyes melodramatically, he very cautiously climbed into the bed, making sure to keep a little distance between them.

Liu squeaked and reached over only to push toby lightly on shoulder “oh fuck you”

The conversation dropped after that, with Liu turning out the lamp light and sinking into the sheets. After a few minutes Toby let himself relax just a little more when he noticed lius breathing had slowed, and his movements stopped, he was asleep, thank god. Maybe he could get through this without letting himself look like a dumbass, maybe there was a little bit of hope. Maybe.

As expected, Tobys anxiety and insomnia made sure he wouldn’t be sleeping for a good while, so to pass the time he slowly turned over to his side, looking out the window right next to him. The curtains were left ajar, something toby usually wouldnt like doing, however for fear of waking up Liu by getting up stopped him from doing anything about it. The pane was smeared with rain droplets, and every so often a Lightning strike would light up the small room momentarily. The thunder rumbles that accompanied seemed far enough away, however as he sat there, listening the the increasing patter of rain on the roof and louder and louder claps of thunder, it didn’t take him long to realize it would only be a matter of time before the conditions got worse. Thank god they didn’t decide to hike back home, they would have really been screwed then.

Tobys eyes couldnt help but wander, and eventually they landed on lius sleeping form. A smile graced his features. He was momentarily glad he could see well in the dark, for the sight before him was almost other worldly.

Liu was slightly smiling in his sleep, of course his stitched mouth always gave the illusion he was but no, it wasnt that, it was him, and it made his heart almost stop. His cheeks were rosy and looked soft. His hair fell perfectly around his face and head. Even the stitch’s littered across his face and neck added to his beauty, It was just him. To Toby, He was perfect.

What toby felt for liu was unprecedented. It made him angry and scared and happy and nervous, almost all at the same time. What started as just curiosity turned into fascination and then that quickly spiraled into something else entirely, something toby never felt for anyone. Thoughout his life, He never felt anything but anger, bitterness, even resentment for other people other than his late sister, anything beyond that was untouched land. He was more of a loner and never found many friends, having a girl to be with was...never his thing, and in the conditions he lived in, anything else wouldn’t have flown.  
Yet here he was now, practically falling over himself as he was sharing a bed with someone that he genuinely felt more for than anyone else.

Liu was so close. So close he could reach out and caress his cheek and he knew he wouldn’t pull away like everyone in his life did. He wish he could stop time and just watch forever, he would have enough time to paint this picture in his head and burn it in there so he never forgot it. Admiring him from afar was still a gift to him, and it was plenty, even if he never acted upon what he felt.

all was peaceful, for once toby felt himself completely relax against the bed. His eyes closed momentarily, as he listened to the rain and lius steady breathing. His soul felt contented and all was well.

Until it wasn’t.

It seemed like it all happened in an instant, Toby didn’t even get the chance to react or even have a single thought cross his mind. Out of nowhere, a very loud and very close clap of thunder rang through tobys and lius eardrums, causing the latter to awake from his peaceful slumber and sit straight up in bed.

“Wh-what the fuck?”

“Weather” toby hesitated before putting a hand to the others shoulder in an attempt to calm him “it’s okay it’s just bad as f-fuck out there right now”

“Oh” Toby felt Liu relax against his hand as he pulled away, “well, at least we’re inside, I hate storms”

Toby furrowed his brow “i didn’t know that”

“Yeah they suck, I’ve hated em ever since I was a kid, they just...freak me out”

“Ah”

It took Liu a good few minutes to slowly sink back in bed, after he did he rolled over to meet tobys gaze, they just stared at eachother in silence for a long while, with Liu almost scanning every detail of the other while toby mentally was floundering. He was so caught up in the overwhelming feeling he didn’t realize the way lius face was drained of color and his arms were wrapped around his waist to hug himself until a few minutes after the fact.

“h-hey are you alright?” Toby asked

Liu dropped his head for a moment,“i-yeah, well no. I just really don’t like storms”

“Th-that seems like an understatement” toby said

Liu smiled a bit “yeah, again I’ve always hated them but now they remind me of-something, and it panics me I’m sorry”

“Don’t be sorry”

Toby didn’t know what to do. He just sat there motionless as Liu made feeble attempts to calm himself, yet failed everytime when the next clap of thunder struck.

Toby didn’t know when he started to scoot closer to him, it felt more involuntary than anything else. He didn’t notice his arms snake around Liu to pull him closer, or how Liu more than welcomed his support, as he leaned into the others embrace. It took a few minutes to register in tobys brain that he did what he did, and he instantly stiffened. No no no wait, being close to Liu was just a fantasy right? Having him this close was just...an impossible dream. Why did he do that? How was this possible? Was he even doing it right? Maybe he was uncomfortable. Fuck-

“I-I’m sorry I just thought this would help” Toby looked down to meet lius gaze.

The other smiled up at him “it is, thank you”

With that, Liu buried his head in The crook of Toby‘s neck and fell silent, with Toby joining. If it wasn’t for the thunder and occasionally the noise of the other patrons outside, the air was deathly quiet. The two seemed to have fallen into a somewhat awkward but mostly comfortable position with eachother, and even if toby was freaking out, he decided to temporarily bury it deep down and make the best out of this.  
Every so often, whenever thunder struck again, Liu instinctively pulled toby closer to him, and Toby managed to choke out little words of comfort as best he could.  
This went on for a while, until Liu pulled back and repositioned himself to where he was looking directly in tobys eyes, he smiled

“Hey”

Toby couldnt help but chuckle as he answered “hey?”

“Thanks for uh, everything” Liu pulled his half of the blanket around himself.

Toby tilted his head to the side “What? I d-didn’t do shit”

“What no you did! You were here and kept me company for the entire day right? Not to mention...this so uh thanks”

Another flash of lightning rang out and Liu tensed. cautiously toby rest his hand on lius shoulder.

“I’m gonna he super honest with you and if you tell anyone else I’m gonna alienate you in your sleep,

Toby laughed again “i highly doubt that but g-go on”

Liu sharply inhaled, “Well, look... when I came to live with you guys, Jeff already made a name for him and me both without me having to open my damn mouth. Jeff was known as a weird emo kid who would kill you if you looked at him the wrong way, and I was terrified everyone thought that about me, and let’s be honest most people in the house are kinda-

“Assh-holes?”

Liu rolled his eyes “well yeah but thats kinda to be expected- anyway, I got so scared and intimidated I Kinda tried to distance myself from everyone to I don’t know run from it I guess? I stayed in my room all the time and either read or changed out the bucket Thats under this one leak in the ceiling but that’s not important, point is it seemed like a lot of the time you were the only one there to try to make me feel better and damn I’m just grateful”

His face flushed as his eyes met tobys

“I know this sounds fucking corny but, a lot of the time it seemed like you were kinda the only one who had my back. So thanks I guess”

In that moment toby was on cloud nine.  
It felt just like he was about to burst with excitement. He should say something back right? That’s normally what you do, be smooth.

“O-oh well no problem you’re r-r-really cool, and I like hanging around you, you’re really smart and also nice to look at” well he kinda fucked up the smooth part but lius laugh and a deeper flush to his face squashed the anxiety of that really mattering.

“Thank you toby, you are too”

Wait, did he just say that? That wasn’t tobys mind playing tricks on him or him dreaming right now was it? If this was all just a dream then he’d like for a coma of some sort to happen so he could stay here forever. Forever in this moment, thats what he wanted.

What happened after seemed like a fairy tale to him.

He didn’t really catch who started to lean into the other first, but all he knew was one moment they were smiling at eachother and the next liu had his hands tangled in tobys brown hair, and Toby tightly gripping lius back, both of their lips connected.

The kiss was soft, sweet and full of love. Toby noticed that lius lips tasted like that cheap cherry lipbalm, and he loved every second of tasting it. Liu lightly tugged on tobys hair, causing him to gasp just enough for Liu to slide his tongue in his mouth. As Liu took control of the kiss, he crawled up on top of toby, never breaking contact. Toby groaned in ecstasy as he further leaned into the kiss, his dreams feeling like they were coming true. It was all he could do to not explode.

Eventually, the two needed to pull away for air. Just like that, the kiss was a memory, all that remained was a single string of drool connecting the twos mouths, their flushed faces and breathy laughs.  
Tobys heart was in his throat as he awkwardly smiled at Liu, his head racing with a million thoughts at once. That felt amazing, and Liu helped initiatiate it, so that meant...he actually felt the same then right? Oh god. Oh god this was great! This was amazing he-he actually did that. Oh Should he...say something? How do you follow something amazing as that up. Fuck Toby had to think fast, his head yelling at him. Say something, anything.

“S-So wait you actually have a bucket for your ceiling?”

Liu could hardly keep from bursting with laughter “yeah! And half the time I don’t even know where the water comes from I just have to keep pouring it out”

Toby genuinely got confused “What? That’s insane how’d I not realize that”

Liu, still perched on tobys lap, playfully hit his chest “youve never even been in my room dumbass”

“Well I had no reason t-to be in there!”

“Well you do now”

At that, they both momentarily fell silent and broke eye contact, both too embarrassed to say something. After a few silent minutes Toby carefully moved one hand to rest on top of lius,

“so um”

“y-y-yeah”

Liu reached a hand out and carressed Tobys cheek, “so uh do you wanna like..be together?”

Tobys eyes widened, “wait, really?”

Liu smiled, “yes! I-I mean-okay so I maybe understated how much I appreciated you. a lot. I’m gonna be honest, I really like being with you, and what we just...have, a-and I wanna be with you“

Tobys face almost turned scarlet, he thanked god Liu couldnt see it in the dark. He pulled lius hand up to his face and placed a gentle kiss to his knuckles,  
“I-I wanna be with you too, really I do”

The hand that was caressing tobys cheek quickly brought him back to lius lips for another kiss, one that was much shorter, but still was like heaven to Toby.

“it’s settled then” Liu said

With that, Liu repositioned himself one last time, finding comfort in laying on tobys chest. Toby momentarily hesitated before snaking his arms around the other and gently squeezing him for comfort. The two didn’t even notice that the storm had subsided until a few minutes in silence brought no thunder or lighting at all. All was peaceful, even toby for a change.  
He flicked his eyes over to the wall clock and could barely make out that it was just past three am. Oh shit, sleep would probably be good right now, even if Toby rarely got tired, a half dozed off Liu on his chest proved to him that it was time for bed.

He let himself relax once more and closed his eyes, letting dreams and sleep overtake him, he hoped that tonight wasn’t just a dream, he hoped that as the light of day wakes him up, his newfound boyfriend would still be on top of him, with that sleepy smile on his face that made his heart sing. That would be plenty for him for the rest of his life.  
Liu gave one final squeeze to his not so temporary partners midsection before finally going limp as he allowed sleep to overtake his body, and Toby followed not too far behind him, one of his final cohesive thoughts being of Liu and his brand new life with him in it. Of course a few anxious thoughts plagued his mind about this, but finding a new thing for him to work himself up about could wait until morning.

Right now toby wanted to just sit back and allow himself to indulge, if only for a little while.


End file.
